At Chuchi's Restaurant in Cape Coral, the tapas are worth it — JLB review

Jean Le Boeuf, the pseudonym for The News-Press' restaurant/food critic, has been publishing reviews, stories and commentary since 1979. Here are six 'yes' or 'no' questions with JLB.
Dave Breitenstein/The News-Press

Chuchi's isn't great at first (or second, or third) impressions. But our critic says excellent Spanish tapas and paella can make up for a lot.

Chuchi's Restaurant offers an array of tapas priced from $2 to $2.50 each.(Photo: Special to The News-Press)

On my initial visit to this 5-month-old Cape Coral restaurant, I stood in the empty dining room as pulsing music trickled down from the second floor. A well-heeled woman in a skin-tight dress emerged from the restroom. I gave her my best "Do you work here?" look. She flashed a disinterested glance my way, shook her head, then sauntered off to the party upstairs.

Hmm.

I milled about for a couple minutes more, trying to be noisy but not obnoxious, trying to give off that there's-someone-in-your-restaurant vibe. Finally, signs of life from behind the bar: A young server emerged, took one look at my friend and I, and said, "We close in 30 minutes."

It was 6:32 on a Saturday night. I was puzzled. And persistent: "Well, can we stay for a drink?"

She smiled, realizing she hadn't properly explained herself. She muttered something in Spanish, as if trying to find the right English words, then explained how there was a big event going on upstairs and how the kitchen was closing for it at 7. She said we were welcome to have a seat and order whatever we'd like (so long as those orders were in before 7).

Smooth as gravel.

Iberico ham with Manchego cheese on crusty baguette slices, from Chuchi's in Cape Coral.(Photo: Special to The News-Press)

Chuchi's opened in September on Santa Barbara Boulevard in mid-Cape Coral. It transformed the old, two-story home of Rodino's into a place for paella and lovely bites of Spanish-style tapas. Not that any of this is apparent right away.

Chuchi's isn't great at second or third impressions either.

Its dining area has all the charm of a prison rec room on fancy-dinner night. Bamboo place mats and slender-stemmed wine glasses top plain black tables. The walls are an institutional gray, lined with flat-screen TVs in lieu of art, and white shutters in lieu of drapes. It's clean and sparse, sure, but it doesn't inspire much hope.

Nor does the music selection. It's Bryan Adams, some bass-heavy salsa and way too much Celine Dion, with the constant thrum of static pouring out in between songs from the lone speaker sitting on the floor.

A glass of white sangria from Chuchi's in Cape Coral.(Photo: Special to The News-Press)

But just when you're about to give up hope, a glass of white sangria comes out, crisp and boozy and topped with chilled apples. The first round of tapas follows: crusty slices of baguette draped in salty wisps of Iberico ham and Manchego; pillowy soft potatoes layered with stewed bacalao and green olives; tostone cups filled with a tuna-cream mousse that sounds dreadful but tastes heavenly, like a lightly salty cloud cupped in a crackly plantain.

The beauty of Chuchi's (and let's be honest, the name Chuchi's isn't all that hope-inspiring either) is that it's full of surprises.

Its menu is printed on plain paper in a loopy font, offering little by way of explanation. "Tuna tartar," for example, means ruby hunks of ahi cloaked in sesame oil and topped with fresh guacamole. The "Russian salad" is the classic Spanish kind, of course, the kind that can be found in every tapas bar from Seville to Madrid — cubed potatoes, tuna and peas in a lush, homemade mayonnaise.

Chuchi's offers 13 tapas grouped by base (boiled potato, tostone cup or baguette) with a handful more, like the Russian salad, included with the starters.

And its tapas are things of beauty.

For one thing, they are actual tapas. Priced at $2 or $2.50, each is about three bites. Some of Chuchi's best tapas feature chewy discs of chorizo, more Iberico and more Manchego; or tender curls of garlicky shrimp paired with a scoop of that excellent guac. A buttery sliver of grilled octopus here, a bit of bacalao there, a sip of sangria or three, and what started as a late lunch stretches into a leisurely supper (backed by the "Titanic" soundtrack).

Shrimp in garlic sauce and more tapas from Chuchi's in Cape Coral.(Photo: Special to The News-Press)

Should you be in the mood for something less scattershot and snacky, Chuchi's makes an excellent paella: puffy grains of saffron-scented rice brimming with sweet mussels, clams and shrimp (or pork and chicken for the non-seafood lovers). The paella takes a while (more static from the radio, more hearts-going-on), but it's worth it.

Most everything else at Chuchi's is quick.

Those tapas come out in waves, the second each is ready. The ceviche takes mere moments, just long enough for the kitchen to cut up some fresh snapper and douse it in lime, salt, herbs and slivered onions. Chuchi's tortillas are the Spanish kind (more akin to omelets than burrito wrappers), and they're excellent — thick and soft and massed with cubes of potato.

Other entrees range from the $8.49 "baked chicken quarter" to a 16-ounce rib eye for $28.95. In the middle: the $15.95 churrasco, a grilled skirt steak all tender and smoky with a dollop of herb-riddled chimichurri on the side.

The same server who told me the kitchen was closing soon that first night, sold me on what she called a cappuccino cake on my last visit, layers of syrup-soaked yellow cake filled with custard and topped with ice cream. She paired it with an actual cappuccino, all frothy and lovely and eye-popping-ly strong.

I lingered as I sipped it, taking in the still-gray walls and the still-random music ("Despacito?" Daddy Yankee?).

Chuchi's may not be great at making first impressions, but it's excellent at creating lasting ones.

Red onions top a plate of ceviche from Chuchi's in Cape Coral.(Photo: Special to The News-Press)

Jean Le Boeuf is the pseudonym used by a local food lover who dines at restaurants anonymously and without warning, with meals paid for by The News-Press. Follow the critic at facebook.com/jeanleboeufswfl or @JeanLeBoeuf on Twitter and Instagram.

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